Down
by KierstynArete
Summary: Oneshot regarding Carolina's state of mind after losing her ranking to Tex. Rated T for language.


**A/N: I wrote this towards the beginning of Season 10, so there are AU aspects. I finally got around to posting it today.**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

She viewed the rankings with distaste. Not a day before, her name had graced the top spot; she had been the top freelancer-the best of the best. The glowing blue board seemed to taunt her, to point out the obvious fact of her demotion. _Agent Texas..._ She mentally spat at the notion of the mysterious rookie who had come into their family and upset the precarious balance of power. Something was horribly wrong, and the director's rage whenever questioned about Texas contributed to her suspicions. There was no way she was a rookie...not with the skills she displayed in combat. No normal person could defeat Carolina in battle, yet Texas conducted such a feat in her first month as a freelancer-seemingly without any effort.

Carolina turned sharply away from the glowing board in the hallway and made her way towards the women's locker room. She would try her damnedest to get earn her spot back. Texas wouldn't be her superior for much longer, if she could help it.

The hallways were empty-mostly. The scarce soldiers going about their assigned business were the only ones who saw the teal-armored freelancer pass by. Their gazes followed her, looking for any sign of an out-of-control temper. Carolina tried to ignore them, but her fighting senses instinctively told her she was being watched. She hated the feeling, but what could she do about it? She was not going to indulge their curiosity and show any outward sign of her anger other than her stiff walk and gritted teeth. Internally, she was raging, defeated, confused, but outside she maintained her dignity. She would not let Agent Texas take her pride away from her.

Towards the end of the hallway was the door to the locker room. With nobody insight, she allowed her anger to possess her and pushed open the door as hard as she could. It turned roughly on its hinges and slammed against the wall. If her mind hadn't be crowded with thoughts of defeat, Carolina might have felt bad about the dent she had caused in the wall behind the door. However, she could care less. Her mind was on Texas, envisioning her as the door. Carolina would make that bitch pay.

There was no one in the locker room, much to Carolina's delight. She proceeded in slamming the door shut and wrenching her locker door open to the point where the top hinge fell off, all the while imagining Texas's face where her fist was. This was her way of therapy.

Rage sated for the moment, Carolina took off her helmet and stowed it on the top shelf of the locker. Wisps of her red hair fell into her face as her green eyes clouded with anxiety. She physically felt the need to avenge the loss of her spot. She needed work; she needed an assignment-a mission to lose herself in. Carolina would prove her worth, if Texas didn't thwart her again. The director had mentioned her having to do questionable assignments; she resolved to complete every one successfully no matter what the mission objective was. She would prove her devotion to Project Freelancer; she would prove why she had been Number One for the longest period of time in the history of the program.

Carolina, so lost in her thoughts, didn't hear the footsteps until they were right outside the door. Her head snapped up at the exact moment the door opened to allow entrance to one of her fellow freelancers.

Her fury returned once she saw who it was.

Texas stood in the doorway, taking in the pissed off woman who was literally quivering with rage before her. Carolina could almost feel the other agent's eyes narrow at the sight of her.

"Y-you," Carolina managed to spit out, slightly surprised by the amount of hate her voice contained, "what do you think you're doing here?"

Texas was silent for a long moment where Carolina's anger hung in the air like smoke. Finally she replied, "I'm as entitled to use this room as you are, Carolina. This is the women's locker room." With that, the black-clad woman stepped into the room and slowly made her way toward her locker. Despite her obvious purpose, Carolina still sensed Texas was watching her, anticipating an attack.

"I don't want you in here." Carolina stated flatly. Texas's head turned toward her.

"I don't care what you want; pissy about your ranking being changed? Well, deal with it. I succeeded where you failed."

Carolina took a threatening step closer to Texas, "You bitch. You weren't even supposed to be on the mission. I had the briefcase in my sights and was going to get it. I didn't need you, and I sure as hell didn't want you."

Texas stood her ground to the advancing Carolina, "I have orders-we all do. I was following them. Besides," Carolina could almost hear the smirk in her voice, "you didn't quite seem to have everything under control. I did you a favor."

Carolina reacted violently, her fist flashing out quicker than she could fully process what Texas had said. Texas sidestepped the hit and blocked Carolina's follow-up attack by grabbing the advancing fist in her hand and using it to push Carolina away from her, nearly knocking her over. Carolina placed a hand against the wall to steady herself. She looked back up at the other freelancer who was standing still against her locker, watching for any other attacks.

When it became clear that none were forthcoming, Texas spoke, "I don't want to fight you, Carolina. We're supposed to be on the same team." Her voice was quiet, threatening in tone. The message was clear-don't mess with me again or I won't be so nice about it.

"As far as I know, Texas" Carolina said her name through gritted teeth, "you were never on my team to begin with. Your name is never on the list."

"That's unfortunate." Texas pulled open her locker door.

But Carolina was not willing to let the matter drop. "You're a coward, you know that?" Texas turned toward her menacingly, "You may be stronger than all of us-have more skill than all of us, but when not even the director can tell us about your orders, something is wrong. You're a coward for not being able to admit to any of us what you do."

"I have orders not to tell." Rage colored Texas's voice, "Maybe you should start following orders, Carolina. I believe there is one about not insulting a superior solider."

"There is that rule, but you're a superior who doesn't even have the decency to get to know us, to let us see her 'superior' face. You think you're better than us, too good to work with us directly? Shove your orders up your ass."

Texas was pissed-the fact could have been obvious to a blind man. The flaring short temper seemed to cause an electric vibe about the room. _The bitch,_ Carolina thought to herself, _she deserves every bit of this._

Carolina watched as Texas reached up to the clasps of her helmet and quickly undid them. Once free, she yanked the helmet off her head.

Finally unmasked, Carolina could take in her superior agent. Brown hair that barely brushed the top of her shoulders with furious hazel eyes, Texas was glaring pointedly at Carolina. Her skin was pale but flushed from either the heat of her suit or anger. Carolina guessed it was a little of both.

"That wasn't so hard, was it, Texas?" Carolina whispered, hate coloring her voice. She was looking for something-anything that would indicate that Texas wasn't fully human, but her search was in vain. Texas appeared perfectly human. _This is the 26th century, Carolina; they are researching the ability to construct AI's that thoroughly function as humans. She could be one of those..._

"Piss off, Carolina." Texas spat, her voice clearer now that she was free of the helmet.

Carolina's eyes narrowed, her gaze intense, "Yes, boss." And with that she turned and walked towards the door, stopping once she arrived. "Oh, and Texas?" Carolina said without turning around, knowing that she had the agent's attention, "I'm going to get my spot back."

"I'm sure you'll try." Texas replied sarcastically. Carolina left the room before her anger could get the better of her again. She didn't even look back as she heard the door slam shut behind her.


End file.
